Judge approves request to delay Aaron Dean murder trial, tentatively reschedules for May

A state court judge in Tarrant County on Wednesday granted a defense motion and postponed for four months the murder trial of a former Fort Worth police officer because two experts are unavailable to testify in January, when the case had been scheduled to be tried.

Attorneys for the former officer, Aaron Dean, met with 297th District Court Judge David Hagerman in his chambers to describe the facts that they expect the experts to prove. In a standard legal arrangement that Hagerman said he approved in order for the defense to be able to discuss a portion of its strategy, the meeting did not include prosecutors.

Hagerman tentatively rescheduled Dean’s trial for May, with jury selection beginning on May 9 and opening statements on May 16.

“No further continuances will be granted in this case,” Hagerman said.

Prosecutor Dale Smith argued earlier in the hearing that the Dean continuance motion was insufficient under a particular Texas criminal procedure code because it did not describe material facts about which the two expert witnesses would testify.

Dean attorney Bob Gill offered to reveal the expected testimony to Hagerman in his chambers. A court reporter was present for the session, and Hagerman sealed the record.

The judge has not ruled on a change of venue motion that Dean’s attorneys have filed. The request to move the trial out of Tarrant County is tentatively scheduled to be heard on May 2.

Dean was indicted on a murder charge after shooting to death Atatiana Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, through a window while responding to a call about doors being open at her home in October 2019. Jefferson was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew, Zion Carr, when she thought she heard a prowler in the back yard, grabbed a handgun from her purse and pointed it toward the window, Zion told a forensic interviewer, according to an arrest warrant affidavit supporting Dean’s arrest. Dean, who is white, did not identify himself as a police officer and shot Jefferson within seconds, according to body-camera video.

In the continuance motion, Dean’s attorneys wrote that the testimony of the unavailable witnesses was a central element of their case.

“Both essential expert witnesses have previously scheduled commitments that will prevent them from being available in Tarrant County during the trial time scheduled by the court,” the attorneys wrote.

Although it is not clear what analysis their testimony will include, Aaron Pierce and Grant Fredericks appear to be veteran expert witnesses.

Pierce, according to his website, is an expert in forensic mental health matters and offers testimony on, among other topics, forensic interviewing protocols and eyewitness credibility.

Zion described the circumstances of the shooting to an Alliance for Children forensic interviewer on the day his aunt was shot and is on a witness list filed by prosecutors.

Fredericks is a certified forensic video analyst.

Beyond the experts’ scheduling problems, Dean attorney Miles Brissette was assigned to another case in which the defendant was indicted on a capital murder charge and is facing the death penalty. The case is scheduled for trial in February and March.

This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 9:54 AM.